Sanskrit, the classical language of India, has long been renowned for its beauty, subtlety and complexity. It is the key to the civilisational treasures of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, and provides direct access to a vast repository of literary, scientific and philosophical wisdom. At the ANU we seek to balance the traditional practice of textual reception—reading and grammar—with language production—speaking, chanting and singing—to provide a truly balanced curriculum. By the completion of the major, students will be able to independently read texts from a wide range of genres, they will have mastered basic spoken Sanskrit, and will be able to chant and recite with a high degree of accuracy.

A student may not take a course if that course is a prerequisite for another course which they have already passed.

Students with prior knowledge of the language will be required to take a placement test and may be exempted from the compulsory course.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Sanskrit language minor students should be able to:

express themselves confidently in a polite, neutral or informal register, appropriate to the genre and the audience.

engage with authentic media such as television, news broadcasts, movies, short stories and novels by summarizing, analysing, evaluating and criticizing their content.

write texts in Sanskrit in the appropriate genre, with correct grammatical structures and thematic vocabulary relevant to the level of the student.

Perform and record presentations or songs in Sanskrit either individually or in cooperative groups, and answer questions based on those performances.

Course Lists

The course lists in the "Requirements" section below is a definitive list and includes all courses that can be counted towards the major, whether or not they are offered in the current year. For a list of courses that will be offered in the current year, please see the Summary of Courses page.